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Do you find yourself stuck and staring at a blank sheet of paper? Try this exercise that I just recently came across from writer and entrepreneur Joe Bunting.

Blank paper with pen

5 Steps to This Writing Exercise

First, get out a blank page. Feel free to open a new document on your computer, get out a pen or a blank piece of paper, or even whip out your old-school typewriter (the preferred method!)

Next, write the first word that comes to your mind.

Then, the hard part: write another word. Why is this hard? Because for this exercise to work, the second word must be random and disconnected from the first. This will completely piss off that perfectionistic little writer in your head. Do it anyway!

After you write the second word, write a third, fourth, and so on. After a few words, you can start a new line. It doesn’t matter where you break the line. Just do it when it feels right. And as you write, don’t forget the most important step of all…

PLAY. When you do this exercise, write with the sounds of words in mind, not their meaning. Try out movie/historical/song/literary references, mashing them up with gibberish rhymes (e.g. “Twain’s hammersaw is bringing me low slow like a long bow“). Make up new words. Pay attention to the sounds of words. Try to come up with the most random noun you can. Then, put it next to a list of five verbs.

DON’T use punctuation (unless that sounds fun to you, of course).

Bunting states, “I’ve worked with hundreds of writers in the last five years, and I’ve found that the biggest killer of creativity is perfectionism.” He reminds us: